At Last! As most readers know, Pigtails in Paint and allied sites (Agapeta and Graham Ovenden’s sites) were shut down by order of the UK police. Backups of the sites were then transferred to a new host. However, in the case of the Ovenden sites, the previous host kind of screwed us over by using an unconventional format for those sites, so information regarding their proper reconstitution was not included. Therefore, the sites had to be assembled by hand which took time and money. But I am pleased to announce that the Graham Ovenden personal website and Garage Press website (Graham’s publishing enterprise) are now operational. Because of Graham’s history with persecution, both sites cannot receive comments or messages. Graham has authorized Pigtails in Paint to serve as a public relation liaison. If you have any questions or are interested in Garage Press publications, please use the contact form on this site.

Fund Raising Protocols: Because of the extra effort of reestablishing Graham’s sites, some extra expenses have been accrued (up to about US$1000). Fortunately, we are in the process of being able to accept donations to help with the running of this site and keep Graham’s sites online indefinitely. I know we have mentioned this before but our new host is going to help with this so it can actually happen.

Pigtails Communications Glitches: During the process of switching hosts, there are always some things that slip through the cracks. One is that I had no idea comments and the Contact Form were not operating correctly. I apologize for the inconvenience and I can assure readers that the problems have been rectified.

Promises, Promises: Although Pip founded this site and there are key contributors to this site, I am inclined to regard this site as belonging to the readers. Part of that requires that those who have interesting information should submit contributions so they can be shared with other readers. I am at your disposal for editing services if you lack confidence in your writing. Those of you who have promised articles—you know who you are—please follow through. We are only as good as our contributors. I will resume writing new articles myself when I feel that our key databases are up-to-date (‘Artists by Name’ and ‘Pigtails Library Index’).

The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back: The beginning of the end for Pigtails under our old host were the controversial images of the Debbie Dreschler post. We were required to remove them to stay operational. This was an almost amusing piece or irony since the artist’s purpose was to make readers aware of the realities of child sexual abuse. Now that we are no longer under UK jurisdiction, I have restored those images. There are also plans to include redacted images from a couple other posts. Readers will be advised when we make any changes.

Always Under Siege:  Although Pigtails has been around for over ten years, we are still subject to persistent attack. When a DDOS (Denial of Service) attack takes place, readers are unable to reach the site due to excessive processing volume. Internet hosts usually keep a database of IPs to block but because this information was not passed from the old host, these attacks have resumed. It will take time to block all these individuals again so be patient if you can’t reach the site at first. Over time, service should become more and more reliable. Sometimes, it is necessary to change this site’s IP address. If you use a shortcut to visit our site, please make sure it is a URL (web address) shortcut and not one that uses our IP directly as we have to sometimes change it with no notice.